Jeffrey M Hunger
Biographic Data
| ID | 1740199 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jeffrey M Hunger |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jeffrey M |
| FAMILY NAME | Hunger |
| SIGNATURE | HUNGER J M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Miami University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2980-8500 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 89 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Weight stigma and mental health symptoms: Mediation by perceived stress
Prior research has established that weight stigma, or social devaluation based on an individual's body size or weight, is directly related to greater depressive and anxiety symptoms. In this investigation, we apply the Cyclic Obesity/Weight-Based Stigma model to investigate if the association between weight stigma and poor mental health is mediated by greater perceived stress. We analyzed data from a census-matched sample (N=1,993) of the U.S. on…
Testing interoceptive dysfunction as a mediator of the relation between weight stigma and disordered eating
Interoceptive dysfunction could be one mechanism that facilitates the weight stigma-disordered eating association. Hence, the aim of this study was to experimentally test whether interoceptive dysfunction mediates the relation between weight stigma and disordered eating. Participants (n = 135; 80.7 % White; 72.6 % women) were college students aged 18 to 25 who reported binge eating symptoms. Participants (n = 66) were randomly assigned to interac…
Gaps in Measurement: Highlighting Anti‐Fat Bias as an Underrepresented Construct in the Modified Weight Bias Internalization Scale
Increasing cross‐sectional literature highlights a strong overlap of internalised weight bias (i.e., weight‐based self‐devaluation) with constructs like body dissatisfaction. The highest overlap is in studies that use the Modified Weight Bias Internalization Scale (WBIS‐M). We argue that anti‐fat bias (e.g., negative judgements of fat people) is a core feature of internalised weight bias definitions not represented in the WBIS‐M, making its items…
Multiple Marginalized Identities, Minority Stress, and Mental Health
Stigmatized individuals contend with minority stress, which increases with the number of stigmatized identities someone holds. Among singly stigmatized individuals, minority stress is associated with poorer mental health. Less research, however, has examined this among multiply stigmatized individuals or considered potential mechanisms linking multiple stigmatization and mental health. Our study leverages a large national sample of US adults ( N …
Clinical bias and gout: How stigma impacts patient care
The management of gout, a condition historically laden with stigma and misconceptions about its underlying causes, stands at a critical juncture. Despite significant advances in understanding its pathophysiology and treatment, gout management remains inconsistent and at odds with prevailing clinical guidelines and evidenced-based standards. This study investigates how inaccurate physician beliefs about gout can bias clinical judgment and contribu…
Weight stigma as a stressor: A preliminary multi-wave, longitudinal study testing the biobehavioral pathways of the cyclic obesity/weight-based stigma (Cobwebs) model
Social class stigma and poorer health behaviors: Evidence from the eating in America study
Unsupported and Stigmatized? The Association Between Relationship Status and Well-Being Is Mediated by Social Support and Social Discrimination
Single adults, on average, experience worse well-being compared to coupled adults. But why? The current research bridged interpersonal and intergroup perspectives to examine the influence of social support and social discrimination on single versus coupled adults’ well-being. We drew on a nationally representative prospective study from New Zealand (Study 1, N = 4,024) and an integrative data analysis of three North American data sets examining p…
Examining the relation between discrimination and suicide among Black Americans: The role of social pain minimization and decreased bodily trust
The Countervailing Effects of Weight Stigma on Weight-Loss Motivation and Perceived Capacity for Weight Control
We hypothesized that exposure to weight stigma simultaneously increases motivation to lose or avoid gaining weight to avoid future stigma and decreases perceived capacity to do so, by heightening concerns about experiencing stigma and negative affect. Study 1 showed that more frequently experiencing weight-based discrimination was associated with greater concerns about being a victim of weight stigma, which predicted increased motivation to lose …
An Evidence‐Based Rationale for Adopting Weight‐Inclusive Health Policy
Health policies routinely emphasize weight loss as a target for health promotion. These policies rest upon the assumptions: (1) that higher body weight equals poorer health, (2) that long‐term weight loss is widely achievable, and (3) that weight loss results in consistent improvements in physical health. Our review of the literature suggests that these three assumptions underlying the current weight‐focused approach are not supported empirically…
Weight-based discrimination, interpersonal needs, and suicidal ideation
Applying Intergroup Relations Research to Understanding LGB Health Disparities
This article describes how intergroup processes and stigma contribute to pervasive health disparities that exist between LGB and heterosexual individuals. In particular, we focus on how the hierarchical organization of groups and the intergroup dynamics that arise from this structure operate at structural, interpersonal, and intrapersonal levels to impact psychological and physiological processes that negatively influence health among LGB individ…
Misclassification of cardiometabolic health when using body mass index categories in NHANES 2005–2012
Weighed Down by Stigma: How Weight‐Based Social Identity Threat Contributes to Weight Gain and Poor Health
Weight stigma is pervasive, and a number of scholars argue that this profound stigma contributes to the negative effects of weight on psychological and physical health. Some lay individuals and health professionals assume that stigmatizing weight can actually motivate healthier behaviors and promote weight loss. However, as we review, weight stigma is consistently associated with poorer mental and physical health outcomes. In this article, we pro…
A Call to Shift the Public Health Focus Away From Weight
Fildes et al.(1) present sobering data on the reality of sustained weight loss for individuals with obesity. These authors concluded that current approaches to weight loss have failed and suggest, "research to develop wider reaching public health policies is needed to prevent obesity at the population level." We agree that advances in research and policy should be leveraged to promote population health. However, we assert that this can best be ac…
Unpacking the psychological weight of weight stigma: A rejection-expectation pathway
The ironic effects of weight stigma
Friends don’t let friends eat cookies: Effects of restrictive eating norms on consumption among friends
Low Calorie Dieting Increases Cortisol
OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that dieting, or the restriction of caloric intake, is ineffective because it increases chronic psychological stress and cortisol production--two factors that are known to cause weight gain; and to examine the respective roles of the two main behaviors that comprise dieting--monitoring one's caloric intake and restricting one's caloric intake--on psychological and biological stress indicators. METHODS: In a 2 (mo…
The ironic effects of weight stigma
An Evidence‐Based Rationale for Adopting Weight‐Inclusive Health Policy
Health policies routinely emphasize weight loss as a target for health promotion. These policies rest upon the assumptions: (1) that higher body weight equals poorer health, (2) that long‐term weight loss is widely achievable, and (3) that weight loss results in consistent improvements in physical health. Our review of the literature suggests that these three assumptions underlying the current weight‐focused approach are not supported empirically…
Unpacking the psychological weight of weight stigma: A rejection-expectation pathway
Applying Intergroup Relations Research to Understanding LGB Health Disparities
This article describes how intergroup processes and stigma contribute to pervasive health disparities that exist between LGB and heterosexual individuals. In particular, we focus on how the hierarchical organization of groups and the intergroup dynamics that arise from this structure operate at structural, interpersonal, and intrapersonal levels to impact psychological and physiological processes that negatively influence health among LGB individ…
Friends don’t let friends eat cookies: Effects of restrictive eating norms on consumption among friends
Weight stigma as a stressor: A preliminary multi-wave, longitudinal study testing the biobehavioral pathways of the cyclic obesity/weight-based stigma (Cobwebs) model
Social class stigma and poorer health behaviors: Evidence from the eating in America study
Low Calorie Dieting Increases Cortisol
OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that dieting, or the restriction of caloric intake, is ineffective because it increases chronic psychological stress and cortisol production--two factors that are known to cause weight gain; and to examine the respective roles of the two main behaviors that comprise dieting--monitoring one's caloric intake and restricting one's caloric intake--on psychological and biological stress indicators. METHODS: In a 2 (mo…
Friends don’t let friends eat cookies: Effects of restrictive eating norms on consumption among friends
The ironic effects of weight stigma
Weighed Down by Stigma: How Weight‐Based Social Identity Threat Contributes to Weight Gain and Poor Health
Weight stigma is pervasive, and a number of scholars argue that this profound stigma contributes to the negative effects of weight on psychological and physical health. Some lay individuals and health professionals assume that stigmatizing weight can actually motivate healthier behaviors and promote weight loss. However, as we review, weight stigma is consistently associated with poorer mental and physical health outcomes. In this article, we pro…
A Call to Shift the Public Health Focus Away From Weight
Fildes et al.(1) present sobering data on the reality of sustained weight loss for individuals with obesity. These authors concluded that current approaches to weight loss have failed and suggest, "research to develop wider reaching public health policies is needed to prevent obesity at the population level." We agree that advances in research and policy should be leveraged to promote population health. However, we assert that this can best be ac…
Unpacking the psychological weight of weight stigma: A rejection-expectation pathway
Misclassification of cardiometabolic health when using body mass index categories in NHANES 2005–2012
Applying Intergroup Relations Research to Understanding LGB Health Disparities
This article describes how intergroup processes and stigma contribute to pervasive health disparities that exist between LGB and heterosexual individuals. In particular, we focus on how the hierarchical organization of groups and the intergroup dynamics that arise from this structure operate at structural, interpersonal, and intrapersonal levels to impact psychological and physiological processes that negatively influence health among LGB individ…
Weight-based discrimination, interpersonal needs, and suicidal ideation
The Countervailing Effects of Weight Stigma on Weight-Loss Motivation and Perceived Capacity for Weight Control
We hypothesized that exposure to weight stigma simultaneously increases motivation to lose or avoid gaining weight to avoid future stigma and decreases perceived capacity to do so, by heightening concerns about experiencing stigma and negative affect. Study 1 showed that more frequently experiencing weight-based discrimination was associated with greater concerns about being a victim of weight stigma, which predicted increased motivation to lose …
An Evidence‐Based Rationale for Adopting Weight‐Inclusive Health Policy
Health policies routinely emphasize weight loss as a target for health promotion. These policies rest upon the assumptions: (1) that higher body weight equals poorer health, (2) that long‐term weight loss is widely achievable, and (3) that weight loss results in consistent improvements in physical health. Our review of the literature suggests that these three assumptions underlying the current weight‐focused approach are not supported empirically…
Examining the relation between discrimination and suicide among Black Americans: The role of social pain minimization and decreased bodily trust
Unsupported and Stigmatized? The Association Between Relationship Status and Well-Being Is Mediated by Social Support and Social Discrimination
Single adults, on average, experience worse well-being compared to coupled adults. But why? The current research bridged interpersonal and intergroup perspectives to examine the influence of social support and social discrimination on single versus coupled adults’ well-being. We drew on a nationally representative prospective study from New Zealand (Study 1, N = 4,024) and an integrative data analysis of three North American data sets examining p…
Weight stigma as a stressor: A preliminary multi-wave, longitudinal study testing the biobehavioral pathways of the cyclic obesity/weight-based stigma (Cobwebs) model
Social class stigma and poorer health behaviors: Evidence from the eating in America study
Weight stigma and mental health symptoms: Mediation by perceived stress
Prior research has established that weight stigma, or social devaluation based on an individual's body size or weight, is directly related to greater depressive and anxiety symptoms. In this investigation, we apply the Cyclic Obesity/Weight-Based Stigma model to investigate if the association between weight stigma and poor mental health is mediated by greater perceived stress. We analyzed data from a census-matched sample (N=1,993) of the U.S. on…
Testing interoceptive dysfunction as a mediator of the relation between weight stigma and disordered eating
Interoceptive dysfunction could be one mechanism that facilitates the weight stigma-disordered eating association. Hence, the aim of this study was to experimentally test whether interoceptive dysfunction mediates the relation between weight stigma and disordered eating. Participants (n = 135; 80.7 % White; 72.6 % women) were college students aged 18 to 25 who reported binge eating symptoms. Participants (n = 66) were randomly assigned to interac…
Gaps in Measurement: Highlighting Anti‐Fat Bias as an Underrepresented Construct in the Modified Weight Bias Internalization Scale
Increasing cross‐sectional literature highlights a strong overlap of internalised weight bias (i.e., weight‐based self‐devaluation) with constructs like body dissatisfaction. The highest overlap is in studies that use the Modified Weight Bias Internalization Scale (WBIS‐M). We argue that anti‐fat bias (e.g., negative judgements of fat people) is a core feature of internalised weight bias definitions not represented in the WBIS‐M, making its items…
Multiple Marginalized Identities, Minority Stress, and Mental Health
Stigmatized individuals contend with minority stress, which increases with the number of stigmatized identities someone holds. Among singly stigmatized individuals, minority stress is associated with poorer mental health. Less research, however, has examined this among multiply stigmatized individuals or considered potential mechanisms linking multiple stigmatization and mental health. Our study leverages a large national sample of US adults ( N …
Clinical bias and gout: How stigma impacts patient care
The management of gout, a condition historically laden with stigma and misconceptions about its underlying causes, stands at a critical juncture. Despite significant advances in understanding its pathophysiology and treatment, gout management remains inconsistent and at odds with prevailing clinical guidelines and evidenced-based standards. This study investigates how inaccurate physician beliefs about gout can bias clinical judgment and contribu…
Psychology (19 works) · Medicine (15 works) · Eating Disorders and Behaviors (13 works) · Obesity and Health Practices (12 works) · Social Psychology (12 works) · Psychiatry (11 works) · Obesity (10 works) · Overweight (9 works) · Clinical Psychology (8 works) · Developmental psychology (8 works)